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UTHSCSA

Accelerating nation will enable us to provide patients with improved diagnosis
Better understanding the diseases that most affect our region and

and treatment.
the Pace of critical research platforms and accelerate the pace of biomedical re-
With that goal in mind, UT Health San Antonio will strengthen

search through the creation of a centralized biobank.
Biomedical Barker Foundation, is part of a comprehensive UT System effort
The biobank, made possible by a $2.5 million gift from the J.M.R.

to support a federal biobank infrastructure of resources, along with
Research best practices, to collect bio-specimens linked to the medical records

of each donor.
It is essential to have a bio-repository that reflects the region’s
By William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, President and unique population. In the United States, the majority of clinical
Professor of Medicine, John P. Howe III, MD, Distinguished trials and medical research has been conducted on non-Hispanic
Chair in Health Policy at UT Health San Antonio Caucasians, and evidence shows that many discoveries and result-
ing treatments may not be relevant to other populations. San An-
tonio’s patient base is 63 percent Hispanic — a population that is
significantly underrepresented nationally in biomedical research
and clinical trials.
The centralized biobank will allow for increased focus on collecting,
processing and analyzing specimens from patients with diseases that
disproportionately affect the South Texas population, with special em-
phasis on Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
30 San Antonio Medicine • May 2019